A further $5 million dribble of funds from the $60 million promised to buy independent support for Australia's media law reform bill has been labelled "wholly inadequate" by the MEAA.
With newspapers closing and staff laid off, federal president of the media section of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance Marcus Strom says the latest $5 million Innovation Fund programme is "paltry".
After pressure, the 2020 funding round has been brought forward with shorter application and processing timeframes, which open in late April and close in late May.
There's also a raised eyebrow or two that this time it appears both metro and regional publishers "and content service providers" producing public interest journalism will get a share of the $5 million with up to $400,000 available for each applicant.
The $48 million three-year innovation fund is part of the $60.4 million Regional and Small Publishers Jobs and Innovation package announced in 2018. It is administered by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, the mainstream role of which seems to be collecting licence fees and policing classifications.
ACMA says the fund - designated the regional and small publishers innovation fund - will provide up to $16 million in grants over three years. Its website says "eligible regional and small publishers" across Australia can apply for grant money from the fund to find new ways to work in the modern media environment, and make their businesses more sustainable.
So far, ACMA says:
up to $2.3 million has been provided to fund 66 regional journalism scholarships at 16 Australian universities;
almost $1.8 million went to fund 70 cadetships at 41 media organisations; and
"up to" $3.6 million was awarded to 25 applicants for 29 innovation
projects which included market research, website development, training and the use of new digital technology.
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